Collins to meet with BIW workers

BATH, Maine — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins is visiting Bath Iron Works on the heels of the shipyard receiving contracts to build the second and third ships of a new class of Navy destroyer.

Collins is visiting the shipyard Wednesday to commend workers on the contracts for the DDG-1000 Zumwalt class of ships. The destroyers feature composite materials, electric-drive propulsion, an unconventional hull and special 155 mm guns that can hit targets from 100 miles away.

The Navy has scaled back the number of the stealthy warships to three, so the contracts for each of them are key to keeping the shipyard busy.

Collins will be meeting with workers at the headquarters of the local S6 machinists union, the largest union at the shipyard.